I am an Australian and I have a background in pediatric nursing. I have spent many years literally wrapping children in cotton wool and every day I witnessed great courage and resilience from the tiny people I cared for, which inspired me to write stories about a little girl elf just like them. Add in some very funky technology, my love of science fiction and my desire to impart great values through my little girl elf named Caramel and there you have it, Escape From The Forbidden Planet was the result.

Interview:If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future? The past definitely. I’ll let the future take its natural course.

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?Cinnamon pancakes, just like my elves.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.If you like the idea of telepathic elves who are obsessed with chocolate cake with caramel sauce, that swing through rainforests on vines, can train trees into the intricate dwellings in the canopy as well as doing battle with evil clones that aim to take over the universe, then you may like this book.

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects? Book 2 Return to Cardamom is due for release in 2013, stay tuned for another Adventure with Caramel.

What inspired you to want to become a writer?When I was nursing little kids who showed such great courage and determination despite their physical disabilities. I decided I wanted to write books to challenge and encourage kids despite physical adversity, with a science fiction theme of course.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.Having a kid really love my little girl elf Caramel because they identify with her struggles

If you could jump in to a book, and live in that world, which would it be?Harry Potter of course, minus the evil characters

What’s one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors? Pursue your dream, finish your book, get it out there and see what comes of it, nothing to lose.

Can you see yourself in any of your characters? Definitely in Caramel and Arianna, because their experiences are a mish mash of my own.

Hidden talent? I can actually sing, but you won’t see me on Xfactor anytime soon.

Favorite Food? Pizza, just like my elves.

Which authors have influence you most how? Anne McCaffrey for her awesome science fiction, Douglas Adams for his interconnectedness of everything , Kathy Reichs for her style of writing,

Favorite places to travel? Venice and the Cinque Terre in Italy. A whole country of Pizza lovers, who could resist.

Print or Ebook? Both because I want to keep up with the technology that the future generation of readers will be using, but I still love a good paperback.

Escape From the Forbidden Planet

Caramel Cinnamon thought the worst day of her life was the day her grandparents, the King and Queen of the Elves of Cardamom went missing. She was wrong! The day she spills sticky toffee syrup onto her father’s computer, that’s when her worst nightmare begins. She finds herself marooned on a forbidden planet, sent there by an evil clone with a very sticky secret. Caramel is desperate to escape. If she doesn’t she will lose her dreams of returning to Cardamom to become a healer like her Mum. Luckily, she has a secret of her own and the lives of her family and friends depend on it!